Some people can’t not only look at, but even hear about cockroaches, while others, on the contrary, are ready to breed them at home. There are about two and a half thousand of these insects in nature.
Many of them are pests, but not marbled cockroaches. They are food crops for snakes, spiders, toads, hedgehogs and other animals.
Who is he
This insect has several names. It is also called the ashy cockroach, naufet. He comes from tropical countries. They have spread all over the world thanks to their unpretentiousness and vitality. They are not afraid of low temperatures, dry air and poor quality food. Many insecticides also cannot harm these insects.
Marbled cockroaches are almost no different from their relatives. Their length is about three centimeters. Females are slightly larger than males. They have wings, but they cannot fly. They are not afraid of hunger. They will live without food for several days. You don’t have to look for special food either. Naufet is omnivorous. They live for about ten months.
The ash cockroach cannot be called a beautiful exotic insect, but as food it is rich in proteins and other nutrients that are necessary for the life of larger animals.
Naufet refers to:
- tipu - arthropods;
- class - insects;
- order - cockroaches;
- species – Nauphoeta cinerea.
Stridulation
Both males and females may produce a chirping sound as a distress signal, slightly lower than the volume of a normal alarm clock (about 60 decibels), by rubbing their pronotum against the grooves of their forewings. Males also chirp during courtship, although usually only when all other tactics have failed. Males have also been seen chattering to each other in the absence of females, one of many examples of same-sex sexual behavior in cockroaches. During courtship, individual chirping sounds are combined into "sentences" that can last up to three minutes.
Tracheal system of the cockroach Nauphoeta cinerea. The main tracheae run horizontally in the image and horizontally across the entire width of the cockroach's body. 6.7x magnification. Scale 2 mm.
About nutrition
Let's talk about how the insect feeds. As mentioned above, ashen cockroaches happily eat everything they come across on the road: cheese, bread, vegetables, fruits. In the wild, they eat smaller insects. At home, marbled cockroaches are raised to feed other animals, which means they must have nutritional value.
The owners feed them:
- Protein products: dry food for fish and cats, eggs, low-fat cottage cheese, bloodworms, leftover meat dishes.
- Cereals, feed, bran.
- Bakery products.
- Cabbage, lettuce leaves, beets.
- Apples and pears.
- Flowers and herbs.
You should not give bananas, tomatoes, nuts, lard, or cheese to insects. Carbohydrate and protein foods should not be mixed. For these purposes you will need two feeders. The feed is renewed after three or four days.
If you do not adhere to these rules, then the naufets may die prematurely. No matter how omnivorous they are, there are foods that will harm them.
Why breed marbled cockroaches?
Marbled cockroaches are feeding insects
At first glance it sounds strange, but there are reasons for this. Ash cockroaches are considered the best solution when you need to provide fresh, high-calorie food for an extensive home collection of reptiles and amphibians, but often there is no time or opportunity to buy it. Then one of the rational solutions would be to breed insects at home.
Unsightly to us humans, the cockroach, lizards, frogs, toads, spiders, primates, amphibians, spiders, and snakes are very much valued as dietary and low-fat food. It is grown specifically for feeding animals with liver problems. “Live food” itself is not picky about food, eats almost any food and at the same time reproduces quickly in captivity. Moreover, it is inexpensive. The temperature range for life activity is wide, and its upper limit can even exceed 30 degrees.
House for insects
It's called an insectarium for cockroaches. True, many say that it is not necessary to spend money to buy it. A plastic container is perfect for these purposes. You can easily purchase it at a hardware store. Remember, the wall must be high, at least thirty centimeters. A lid is not required, insects will not run away. Although they have wings, they cannot fly or rise up. They are given wings in order to glide from above.
For reliability, the inside walls of the house can be lubricated with thick Vaseline. Vaseline oil cannot be used; it will spread over the walls. The strip should be about four centimeters wide from the top of the container. Insects will not be able to overcome this obstacle. This protection is updated once every two months. Before applying a new layer, the old one must be removed using a paper napkin or cloth. The Vaseline strip should be clean, free of dust and dirt.
Cockroaches and spiders
Spiders eat cockroaches. If the spider is larger than a cockroach, the victim is instantly immobilized, turning into a shapeless lump with protruding antennae. A completely different picture unfolds before our eyes when the spider gets a cockroach comparable in size to it. Here begins a fierce battle that can last tens of minutes.
The following video contains scenes of violence and animal cruelty, please be careful:
The spider does not always correctly calculate where to insert its chelicerae into the victim, therefore, the victim often receives the first injections somewhere in the elytra. At the same time, the cockroach fights back furiously but in vain and creaks menacingly, although the outcome of the scene is, of course, a foregone conclusion.
After a couple of similar experiments, I developed such empathy for these unfortunate cockroaches that in the future I began to choose for food only small individuals, whose communication with the spider occurs instantly.
Features of care
To ensure that marbled cockroaches do not die prematurely, several rules must be followed.
- Remember to keep an eye on the ratio of females to males in the group.
- Feed the males first.
- At least once a month, place the adults in a different container. They are the main colony. Small cockroaches should be kept separately. If you do everything according to the rules, then after a while you will need not one, but several containers. Each age and size has its own territory.
- Colonies should be renewed once a year. You can add individuals from another colony to the main family. If the family does not renew itself, fertility will decrease and the young will be weak.
Area
Originally native to northeast Africa, Egypt, Eritrea, Libya and Sudan. However, due to its association with humans, especially its tendency to stow away on ships, the species has acquired an invasive tropical range that includes parts of Madagascar, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, Australia, Hawaii (USA), Mexico, Cuba, Galapagos Islands (Ecuador) and Brazil.
Distribution of the marbled cockroach: natural (Northeast Africa) and introduced (all other noted areas)
Breeding
It is not difficult to deal with marble cockroaches. Their content is to create optimal conditions. As mentioned above, you will need an insectarium. It must have ventilation holes with a diameter of no more than two millimeters. Another good option is to cover the container with a thick mesh. Sawdust is placed at the bottom. Planting density is per square decimeter, no more than one hundred individuals. The house should be located in a warm, but not very lit room. The air temperature ranges from twenty-five to thirty degrees, humidity is sixty percent and slightly higher. As the temperature drops, the insects will become lethargic and the intensity of reproduction will decrease.
A shelter should be built in the container where the insect will live. Small boxes and egg trays are suitable for these purposes. They are placed on top of each other. The cockroach will have somewhere to hide.
As you can see, keeping Nauphoeta cinerea does not pose any difficulties. Now let's talk about getting offspring.
How to breed and care
Owners of terrariums are extremely interested in breeding Nauphoeta cinerea in their own homes in order to always have live, and therefore fresh, nutritious food on hand. To maintain neophytes, a number of requirements must be met.
Insectarium: aquarium or plastic box with a tight lid
- An insectarium or a dwelling for insects can be built from a box, or even better, from an aquarium, the height of the walls of which should not be less than 200 mm. Comfortable living conditions: temperature 25-30 degrees and relative humidity about 60%. In cold weather, the home should be placed near a heating radiator or the living creatures should be heated from above with a lamp. And to ensure the required humidity, the container is treated with a finely dispersed method at least 2 times a day. It is necessary to take into account the fact that cockroaches are excellent at climbing up strictly vertical surfaces, and, even upside down, they run quickly. Therefore, the upper edges of the container 5-7 cm should be treated with Vaseline, preventing insects from escaping in the event of a temporary open lid. The rest of the time it should fit snugly to the frame. If the population has grown and the edges of the box or aquarium are untreated, individuals gathered at its edge can easily lift the lid made of plastic or even glass. This is fraught with escapes, after which it is very difficult to return the insects to their house.
- Breathing for the cockroaches inside should be ensured by drilled small (up to 1.0 mm in diameter) holes to allow sufficient air to pass through. They become an obstacle for nymphs trying to penetrate outside. The presence of cracks is not allowed.
- It is rational to start breeding live food from at least 20, and preferably 50, individuals. If you plan not to buy cockroaches for constant replenishment, but to make do with your own resources, you need to monitor their selection for feeding and leaving them for procreation. To do this, according to a certain scheme, insects of one or the other sex are given for food. First, the males, until there are only 1 or 2 of them left. Then the females are fed. Ultimately, the “untouchable minimum” is 2 or 3 females and 1 or 2 males. They are reviving the population again. For active reproduction, the aquarium or box is placed in a dark place: without light, insects are especially active. In order to increase the weakened viability of the marmorated offspring, it is practiced to inject “fresh blood” into their population: by introducing individuals of both sexes from other colonies. For comfortable living conditions, it is necessary that the density of ash cockroaches per centimeter of area be one individual.
Attention! If the process is uncontrolled, reproduction occurs actively, and there is more material for food than is needed. It is necessary to monitor this and, when a critical amount is reached, lower the temperature of the habitat, thereby stopping the reproduction process.
Cockroaches and water
In general, a cheerful animation reigns in the cockroach, which turns into completely unbridled fun, you just have to splash water there. Marbled cockroaches love to drink, so each of their drinking sessions is a separate attraction. Especially good for display to guests who do not like arthropods. Well, that's probably all for today.
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